1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a device for forcibly opening a fortified door, a barricaded passage, a damaged structure, such as a wrecked automobile, or any other barrier that requires the use of force to gain access to a building or structure. More particularly, the invention relates to a portable, hand-held, forcible entry device including a piston-driven striker that is reciprocated, preferably by gas combustion, to produce an extreme percussive force.
2. Description of Related Art
The need for authorized personnel to gain access to locked, barricaded or otherwise secured buildings and to damaged structures, particularly in response to illegal activity or an emergency, is an all too frequent occurrence in society today. For example, law enforcement officers are often required to enter a fortified building to prevent the commission of a crime or to prevent the destruction of evidence. Criminals, and in particular those dealing in illegal narcotics, often rely on increased fortification to hinder law enforcement personnel from entering buildings in which illegal activity is being conducted, thereby counteracting the element of surprise which is often critical to the success of the law enforcement operation. As a result of such increased fortification, a universal "skeleton key" is no longer useful in many instances, and the services of a highly skilled locksmith are more frequently required. Utilizing even a skilled locksmith to open a locked or barricaded door, however, is very time consuming. Consequently, the response time of law enforcement personnel is too often deleteriously delayed.
Similarly, it is often necessary in an emergency situation (e.g., a fire, tornado, earthquake, vehicle accident or hostage situation) for rescue personnel to rapidly open a locked or fortified door, a barricaded passage or a damaged structure. Because emergency situations typically call for rapid response, force is often used to gain entry through the locked or fortified door, barricaded passage or damaged structure. For example, it is often difficult after an automobile accident to rapidly extricate injured occupants due to the structural damage suffered by the vehicle. In response to this situation, a hydraulically actuated cutting tool, commonly known as the "Jaws of Life," was developed. Although the Jaws of Life has proven to be of great value in extricating occupants from wrecked vehicles, such a tool has certain limitations. First, the hydraulic pressure that is needed to operate the Jaws of Life requires a bulky and heavy power supply that makes using the tool cumbersome. Further, the operation of the jaws of the tool is relatively slow and as a consequence it can take a significant amount of time to free an individual trapped in a wrecked vehicle. Finally, the inability of the Jaws of Life to be used on anything other than a protruding object (i.e., the jaws cannot penetrate a flat surface readily without a starting point, such as an opening or a tear) limits its effectiveness in many situations.
The prevalence of barred doors and windows has likewise become a hindrance to law enforcement and emergency personnel attempting to perform their official duties. Oftentimes, bars are affixed to a door or window and must be severed or removed before access to the building can be gained. Without a key, such bars can only be removed with a time-consuming and cumbersome blow torch operation. In the case of law enforcement personnel, the element of surprise may thereby be lost and the safety of the law enforcement officers may be placed in greater jeopardy. In the case of emergency personnel, the response time used to reach the injured occupant may be lengthened and the safety of the rescue workers may be placed in greater jeopardy.
A need, therefore, exists for a device that enables law enforcement and emergency personnel to forcibly open a fortified door, barricaded passage, damaged structure or other barrier. The device must be compact and lightweight, and thus portable enough to be rapidly positioned and deployed without the need for an external power source, such as a hydraulic pressure supply, thereby reducing the amount of time required to gain access to the building or damaged structure. In addition, the forcible entry device must be versatile enough to be utilized in the many different situations which may arise in the course of duty of law enforcement and emergency personnel.